The next step for the young UTEP women's basketball team is learning how to win close games.

The good news, and it's undeniably and tangibly good, is that they picked up some experience in that category in Saturday's 80-76 loss to a red-hot Rice team. That bad news is that they came up short again on an afternoon when the effort and energy was there but the truly big shot or stop wasn't.

"I'm very proud of our team, I'm proud of how hard we competed, it was definitely a dog fight," coach Keitha Adams said after her team fell to 3-11 in Conference USA and Rice won for the sixth time in seven games. "This team has been through a lot and there's two ways you can go with this type of thing. You can feel sorry for yourselves, or you can get ticked off, get motivated. That's where I'm at, using what's behind us as motivation."

For the second consecutive game this weekend Sparkle Taylor had 34 points, thus becoming the first player in program history with back-to-back games of 30 or more, but again there wasn't much around her. She was 12-of-19 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line, while the rest of the team was 13-of-41 and 17-of-23. Taylor also led the team with 11 rebounds.

Tamara Seda did have 13 points and 10 rebounds, and when she hit a layup with 6:49 to go, the Miners led 58-56. It was the 13th lead change, but there was one more to go. Rice scored 12 points on its next six possessions, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Maya Hawkins (25 points) and Nicole Iademarco (23 points) that pushed the lead from 62-60 to 68-60 with 3:48 to play.

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Tamara Seda, left, and Sparkle Taylor, 12, both vie for a rebound under their basket against Rice Saturday in the Don Haskins center. Behind them is Lexie Ducat of Rice.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

The Owls were 5-of-18 from 3-point range before those went in.

"I challenged our players, they haven't done a good job at times taking strengths away," Adams said. "We take their strengths away, we win that game. Rice is really good at running their offense, they are going to make you work. They keep running it until you break down."

"We need to be better at stopping people, stopping their best players," said Taylor, who was one of five players to foul out on a night when 54 fouls were called and 70 free throws were attempted. "Rice is a really good team, they set a lot of picks, we need to be more vocal on the court."

As for her team, "I'm definitely proud of everybody, how hard we played on both ends," said Taylor, whose 34-point games this weekend were the most points scored in a conference game in 26 years. "I was especially proud of T (Seda) coming back in after getting a bloody nose. I'm proud of everybody."

Ironically, the play where Seda got a bloody nose scrumming for a jump ball early in the fourth quarter was not called a foul, on a weekend where 109 fouls were called in two games and 10 players fouled out. Seda went to the training room but was back in the game within a few minutes.

"It was a physical game, it was competitive on both teams' part," Adams said. "They called it tight. There were some love touches that were called. It is what it is."

The game was close most of the way. Rice used a 7-point run late in the first half to go up 39-30, but UTEP answered with the next eight and no one led by more than four points until those back-to-back Owl 3s in the last half of the fourth quarter.

After taking the 58-56 lead, UTEP missed four of its next five shots and had one of its 10 turnovers while Rice made the run it needed. The Miners did get back within 78-76 with 20 seconds to play on an Ax Bernard 3-pointer, but Taylor fouled out while sending Hawkins to the line and she made both. Hawkins was 8-of-8 from the line in the final 52 seconds to keep UTEP at bay.

What this means is that the Miners' game with FIU Thursday will basically be for the 12th spot in the Conference USA tournament, as both teams are 3-11 in league play.

"This time of year, teams can fold up," Adams said. "I don't think this team is going to."

If they don't, they can still play postseason basketball.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @bretbloomquist on Twitter.